1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to concepts and techniques for performing automatic gain control in a receiver.
2. Background
Peer-to-peer networks are commonly used for connecting wireless devices via adhoc connections. These networks differ from the traditional client-server model where communications are usually with a central server. A peer-to-peer network has only equal peer devices that communicate directly with one another. Such networks are useful for many purposes. A peer-to-peer network may be used, for example, as a consumer electronic wire replacement system for short range or indoor applications. These networks are sometimes referred to as Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN) and are useful for efficiently transferring video, audio, voice, text, and other media between wireless devices over a short distance.
A WPAN may provide connectivity for devices in a home or a small office or may be used to provide connectivity for devices carried by a person. In a typical scenario, a WPAN may provide connectivity for devices within a range on the order of tens of meters. In some applications, a portable device such as a cell phone may communicate with a headset using, by way of example, pulsed-Ultra Wide-Band (UWB) communications. Devices that consume relatively small amounts of power are generally desirable in these and other types of applications. Low power consumption in such devices allows for a small battery size and/or prolonged battery life, for example.
To this end, physical layer design approaches implementing pulsed-UWB technologies with Pulse Position Modulation (PPM), by way of example, have been utilized for low power and low complexity system design. However, the RF design required to implement such architectures faces significant challenges, such as those that stem from the analog energy detector-based PPM demodulator. In certain applications, the implementation of a slicer based architecture with digital demodulation is an efficient way to reduce power consumption compared to energy integration based approaches.
At the same time, the slicer based architecture, in general, requires a very fine automatic gain control (AGC). Setting a fine AGC level, especially in UWB systems, can have significant power consumption costs and/or link budget costs, and thereby, negate any advantages the slicer based architecture has in terms of power savings. Accordingly, there is a need for art for a methodology that enables fine AGC estimation with minimum power consumption and link budget costs.